Luna: Increased bilirubin level in urine (new pictures added)

Since Luna (who turned 14 three days ago) was dealing with an UTI two weeks ago, I got some of these urine test strips to find out if the infection was gone. Unfortunately, the strips also showed that her bilirubin level is notably increased which means that something's wrong with her liver. More precisely, the biliary duct must be blocked by something which is definitely NOT good. Just spoke to my vet about the options we have. We could do some bloodwork (and I guess I will sooner or later), but that would be torture because it cannot be done without anaesthesia, which is not without risk at her age. Besides, the bloodwork would only tell that something's wrong with her liver, but won't tell what exactly it is. The only way to find out would be a biopsy, and I don't think I will put her through this. Not at her age! Especially since there wouldn't be much we could do for her if it was cancer.

So, my vet advised to treat her with Hepar comp to support her liver, and I will start doing that next week. BTW, there are no signs of jaundice yet (and no other signs of illness), so obviously the bilirubin level in her blood is not that high - not yet, at least.

When Tigris showed his -at that time unknown- symptoms at the age of 13 we had a biopsy made and I would never do this again. On one hand it showed his peritoneal cancer and we knew he would not be able to survive this, on the other hand it made his last two weeks miserable. I still feel guilty about it but I didn't know better.
Enjoy the time you have with her as long as Luna is a happy girl. I hope she will enjoy her birthday nevertheless.
Love to all of you.

"That's the power of kittens (and puppies too, of course): They can reduce us to quivering masses of Jell-O in about two seconds flat and make us like it. Good thing they don't have opposable thumbs or they'd surely have taken over the world by now." -- Paul Lukas

Sorry to hear about Luna, Kirsten. I wonder if you'd be able to get bloods from her under sedation, rather than a general anaesthetic? Sedation shouldn't be overtly risky for a 14 year old cat. Although as you say, only a biopsy will be able to give information regarding the condition of the liver itself.

It is possible to use a needle to retrieve an aspirate, or punch-biopsy, of liver tissue with the use of ultrasound to guide the vet - not sure if your vet has discussed that with you, or whether that would be feasible for Luna with sedation? It does depend on what the vet suspects is wrong with the liver so s/he may not believe it's warranted.

It's probably going to be something chronic so whether you'd prefer to know or not is up to you. There may be dietary indications for some of the possible causes, which could help lessen the disease progression but would be unlikely to reverse it entirely. Regardless, I'm sure she is currently living a comfortable retired life and will likely continue to do so for a little while yet!

I'm so sorry to hear this, Kirsten. It's so hard to watch our babies go downhill. If it's the liver there's something wrong with, it could be painful. I hope you can get a diet for her that will help, but if not, ask about pain medication.

I don't understand why she can't have a blood panel done without anesthesia. Why is that?

I'm sorry to hear about your Luna. I understand you do not want to put her through any more than necessary. Maybe treat her as best you can with vet's help (without making her go through painful procedures) and keep her comfy and as normal as possible. It is so hard to watch our beloved friends go downhill. My thoughts and prayers are with you.... Kay

[QUOTE=Randi;2495573]I'm so sorry to hear this, Kirsten. It's so hard to watch our babies go downhill. If it's the liver there's something wrong with, it could be painful. I hope you can get a diet for her that will help, but if not, ask about pain medication.

I don't understand why she can't have a blood panel done without anesthesia. Why is that?

If I remember correctly Luna gets very very stressed at the vet. If Kirsten was going to go through with the blood work or a needle aspiration maybe she could be pre-sedated at home.

However, I think Kirsten's vet has a good approach for Luna. Start with the Hepar comp and see if it helps. I didn't look at the links you posted Randi, but hopefully there is good diet information there as well,

Kirsten, is the Hepar comp a type of milk thistle? That is also supposed to help the liver.

Prayers for you and your girl, and I pray she is with you for a long and comfortable time yet.

Kirsten, I am so sorry to hear this. Prayers are on the way for you and sweet Luna.

No matter what anyone does, someone some where will be offended some how!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MY BLESSINGS:
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Grandma (RB), Chester, Angel, Chip
Leonardo (RB), Luke (RB), Winnie, Chuck,
Frankie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WHERE YOU ARE IS WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So sorry to hear about Luna Kirsten. I think you're doing the right thing trying the Hepar comp first. I don't think putting her under at her age would benefit her and I would feel the same way about not wanting to know if it does happen to be something serious. Just enjoy Luna and feed her a special diet for her liver. I'm sure all the PT prayers will help her.

Zara, thank you very much for the information. My vet hasn't suggested that biopsy with ultrasound yet, but I totally agree with Barbara on this. What would it help if they'd find out it's something chronic, something that cannot be treated ... Maybe it's better not to know. Of course, in case of her developing jaundice or any other symptoms, I need to discuss further options with my vet, but so far, she seems to be fine (apart from the pain caused by her back problems), so I'll go for the Hepar comp treatment and hope this will keep her liver problems at bay for a while.

Randi, as for the bloodwork thingy ... Candace is right, it isn't possible to draw blood from her while she's awake, she panics at the vet's and is fighting. This only works with anaesthesia, but when it comes that, I'm not only concerned by her age, but also by the fact that Lily won't recognize Luna for two days, she will completely freak out and panic. Been there several times, and it's a tremendous torture for both my cats.

Right now, she seems to be doing fine and I hope she will be like this for a while.

Today I went to the vet's to get Luna's Hepar comp and when I arrived, a 17-year-old kitty was just put to sleep. Her human mom sat in the waiting room, crying, and I heard the cat scream when she got her injection. :-( It was so hard to bear! I felt so sorry for the woman and tried to express my sympathy, but I also thought that this could be me in a couple of weeks or months. Looking at Luna, however, makes it hard to believe that she might me seriously ill, she looks so healthy and good, apart from the problems with her hind legs and back.

This was her the other day, watching her beloved "kitty light" (laser pointer):

What lovely pictures of your Luna girl. I'm glad she looks okay, and it doesn't look like she has lost weight. Also good to see she's still interested in the lazer pointer. I so hope you will be together for quite some time, yet.

Give her lots of attention and comfort - and some gentle kisses from me, too.

(((hugs)))

"I don't know which weapons will be used in the third World war, but in the fourth, it will be sticks and stones" --- Albert Einstein.